Last Roll of 2016

Ended up with 132 hours of BJJ training in 2016, which is infinitely more than I trained the year before–hoping for at least 300 hours in 2017.

Pretty good turnout for open mat. I rolled several rounds with Ana, being super gentle. She wasn’t going to roll at all, just a week out from the broken nose, but decided she’d roll if we were extra careful. I’m getting better at going technique-only. I’m trying to be aware of when I’m using excessive strength to avoid submissions. For example, she went for a kimura, and my first thought was “Pshaw–you can’t get that on me!” But the next thought was, “What if I only weighed 115 pounds–would she get it then? What if she weighed 190?”

So, yeah–tap.

Ended up getting in a bunch of rounds with Norm, Joe, Ed, and Justice. At least two 5 minute rounds with each of them. All rounds went about as expected.

I think the most productive rounds were with Ana though. We really need to get some mats at home so we can do a ton of easy flow rounds at home whenever we like. These rounds are probably better for me than they are for her. I’m much more of a plodding and deliberate grinder, and she’s all over the place. “Slowing down” for her is a little faster than I’m used to, but taking the strength out of it allows me to look at where I am and try to figure out a technical play without having to worry about being muscled into a submission. Hopefully what I’ll get out of this is the ability to analyze a situation faster and jump to a technique.